Author: WTM / Source: Neatorama
Ernest Borgnine, A-list actor and winner of the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actor, shocked the celebrity world when it was announced in 1962 that he had signed a contract to be the lead in a new TV comedy sitcom, McHale’s Navy. Why would a film actor at the top of his game do such a thing?
TV? Surely you jest, Ernie. However, this video tells how and why it came about and it is as surprising a story as is the man’s himself. Here was an actor who had won an Oscar for playing a good natured butcher (Marty), who earlier had played a sadistic Army Sergeant (From Here to Eternity), and who was later to play a tough-as-nails outlaw (The Wild Bunch), a vicious boss (Willard), and a flinthearted Army General (The Dirty Dozen). Whatever made someone think he could convincingly do comedy is unclear, but, boy, was that ever the right design. From the IMDb:These are the adventures of the misfit crew of PT-73 during World War II. They’re one of the best fighting…
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